Hi-Res Downloads - Would you repurchase your favourite music if it was released in this format?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by bherbert, Sep 5, 2017.

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  1. bherbert

    bherbert Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    South Africa
    Based on experience would you say you can hear a difference between a cd and a hi-res download?
     
  2. MikeManaic61

    MikeManaic61 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    Maybe if I had a HiFi setup I probably could. But in my experience, I will buy a hi rez download if the mastering beats my current cds.

    The Rush remasters and Stevie Wonder hi rez (not a big fan of his 1990 reissues, it sounds dull to my ears) sounds better than the cd versions.
     
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  3. hurple

    hurple Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clinton, IL, USA
    Nope.

    Call it CD-PTSD but I feel like I've already been over-charged enough for that stuff one too many times.
     
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  4. KDubATX

    KDubATX A Darby Man Never Says When

    Location:
    Austin
    If the mastering on the Hi Res is better than the CD mastering, yes.
     
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  5. Carl Steward

    Carl Steward Forum Resident

    Location:
    Castro Valley, CA
    Streaming works for me, although I also have tons of CDs and LPs as well (not to mention about 35,000 mp3s loaded onto an old mega-iPod). I have a cable that plugs directly from my devices to a special setting on my stereo receiver. Plays fabulously as long as the original recording was mastered well. I don't know what Neil Young is talking about.
     
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  6. jmrife

    jmrife Wife. Kids. Grandkids. Dog. Music.

    Location:
    Wheat Ridge, CO
    Well, for me, I use a service that rips my SACDs, DVD-As, Blu-Ray discs to DSD and FLAC.

    Are the results better than CD quality? Almost always. But not always, always.

    Sincerely, this process is decidedly file dependent. GIGO.

    But the convenience of playing my usually superior digital files is the killer app, IMO. No more disc hunting, loading, changing for me.

    If I want to compare a 24/192 version of a particular song to a 16/44 version, I can do it on the fly, in mid-song if I wish.

    I have said it before: my computer file system has changed the way I interface with my music for the better.

    Better listening through better mastering.
     
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  7. LoveYourLife

    LoveYourLife Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    If you've got the vinyl or CD and you really needed a hi-res digital copy, why wouldn't you rip your own from the source? So unless it's audibly superior, there'd be no point
     
  8. JamesD1957

    JamesD1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, Texas
    I didn't vote. I wouldn't dream of repurchasing all or most of my collection with hi res. But I have repurchased four or five titles from HD Tracks, and I do like them.
     
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  9. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    I've already been doing that for releases that aren't available in high-res on disc (SACD, DVD, Blu-Ray). I usually check opinions here first to see if anyone else has tried it, though.
     
  10. jmrife

    jmrife Wife. Kids. Grandkids. Dog. Music.

    Location:
    Wheat Ridge, CO
    As a general rule: Yes! Yes I can! If you can't, either you are playing an inferior hi-res file or lack the equipment to resolve the better file.

    Again, better listening through better mastering. Even with my 71 year old ears, the difference can be very real and enlightening. Many of my hi-res files (and all of my 5.1 files) are ripped from hi-res discs, so I know what I am expecting to hear.

    Example: the Retrospective SACD by the Animals sounds much better than CD quality. And ripping it to FLAC makes that superior sound quality a real joy that is just a click away.
     
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  11. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Sure it depends on source and mastering. The Uriah Heep hi-res downloads are great and worth every penny.
     
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  12. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Redbook is overkill for these old ears.
     
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  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    no downloads or streaming for me. cd, sacd, dvd-a, bluray-a ... i will probably keep my vinyl but probably won't buy any more
     
  14. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Possibly.

    If I think the mastering is a significant improvement.
     
  15. kevin5brown

    kevin5brown Analog or bust.

    As a wise man once said, it's the mastering, stupid.

    :D

    I don't care about hi res, but I most certainly care about the best sounding mastering. If they're one and the same? Great. But most times they aren't.

    The first thing I do with any hi res DL I get, is to down res it to CD, so I can more easily listen to it anyway.
     
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  16. Poison_Flour

    Poison_Flour Forum Resident

  17. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    New designed vinyl out 2019 developed in Austria...plays louder than original vinyl also longer time length, from a digital source. Hi rez vinyl perhaps.
     
  18. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    On the other hand, most of the Sony Bob Dylan SACDs don't get much respect, and many prefer old redbook to the Sony SACDs.

    Mastering always trumps High-Res I would say.

    I rarely hear anyone comment "oh the reverb sounds so much better" on high res. It's always a question of loudness and "brightness"
     
  19. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Why do we need vinyl to play louder???
     
  20. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Don't tell me tell the manufacture.:D
     
  21. jmrife

    jmrife Wife. Kids. Grandkids. Dog. Music.

    Location:
    Wheat Ridge, CO
    "On the other hand, most of the Sony Bob Dylan SACDs don't get much respect, and many prefer old redbook to the Sony SACDs.

    Mastering always trumps High-Res I would say.

    I rarely hear anyone comment "oh the reverb sounds so much better" on high res. It's always a question of loudness and "brightness"


    I would never hold up the Dylan's Sony SACDs as a gold standard. They are not. Dylan's work on Mofi reissues, on the other hand, are quite good for the most part. There is no one answer that is alway correct.

    I could site you many, many SAs that are "superior" to rebook, just as I could list many that were not. Doesn't change my opinion.
     
  22. Methodical

    Methodical Forum Resident

    Location:
    MD
    It depends. I may for some of my favorites, so that I can listen on the go with my DAP. With the DAP, I can listen to my favorite music while cycling, commuting to work or through BT speakers where I don't have access to my vinyl or CDs. I like to have physical media (if possible) and have many CDs in my catalog, but downloads has it's place in my music catalog. As a matter of fact, I am about to download the Bob James and David Sanborn's Double Vision album; one of my favorites. I have the album, but no CD to rip (not ripping vinyl) for listening on my DAP.
     
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  23. Kristofa

    Kristofa Enthusiast of small convenient sound carrier units

    Location:
    usa
    Only if the mastering was better. I have been re-purchasing titles here and there, but my most of my CDs sound pretty good.

    A streaming service that lets you sample the Hi-res file before purchasing and then providing a great discount on the ones you choose to buy is ideal, and we have that with Qobuz. But the annual up-front cost is prohibitive for many of us.
     
  24. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    If I want my music in the best digital quality available...I'd probably like to play it in the best digital quality available, as well. This means, endlessly taking a chance this next purchase would be better than the last one (you know, the one I already paid for and aren't getting a refund on it just because I bought it in another format...?).

    There comes a time you have to be somewhat satisfied, and just knowing there's yet another edition of the same 45-year-old album with a more sizzling ring to the cymbals, isn't going to satisfy. Your friend will hear you have the best-sounding versions of all the music you love in the best formats...but, you'll never be able to show them because you can no longer afford the streaming services, media players and DAC's to demonstrate it...because you're still looking for that elusive Uriah Heep album with just one more db of bass to it.

    Besides, I'm more focused now on taking the excellent examples of my favorite music I already upgraded, and transferring them into compatible playing experiences while stored onto the same server. Having a DVD-Audio I have to play in the Oppo downstairs and a HCDC-encoded album I can only play on the Sony upstairs, just won't cut it, if they're going to both sit on the same shelf. There has to be a point when you cut bait, and stop getting reeled-in (and don't get me started on MQA).
     
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  25. schnulli

    schnulli Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    Sound quality depends more on mastering than format in my opinion. What is s hires version of Carusos recordings good for ?
    But seriously: If the source is not good enough, 24bit/96 will not dramatically change the world. And then one has the limitations of playback @Home.
    So my vote is: NO upgrade to hires if mastering / mix is the same.
     
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